I remember it happening like it was a yesterday. It was a late September rainy evening when I picked Sonny up on our way home from work. “I found a restaurant we should go to, its an hour plane ride from Stockholm, then an hour drive out and it only has six tables” he said to me. Then later that evening, I read a little more and saw this YouTube video. I was sold and Sweden was pencilled into our annual summer trip east of the Atlantic which generally included a trip to Basque Country in Spain and another country in the vicinity.

But that was more than a year ago and since then, our timeline had changed. What was supposed to be a trip in the summer turned to autumn due to professional circumstances, and an unwillingness to coincide with San Sebastián’s international film festival in late September, Gastronomika in early October and Arzak‘s closure in November. To time our trip with a new season, the change of ingredients and the Aurora Borealis up in Sweden was another consideration and late October is what we settled on.

Our first visit to Arzak (and San Sebastian) in May 2010 was definitely an eye opening experience. Before that, C and I were not overly passionate about travelling and eating. But since then, eating top quality food and travelling to do so has been our (unofficial) life missions.

No words can describe what I feel whenever C and I visit Arzak. Three years ago, we visited Arzak for the first time, and the impression that it has left on me has been one of the happiest ones in my life. It is the main reason why I insist on eating at Arzak every year we visit San Sebastian, and this year marks the third straight year we have gone.